Boy, Godzilla vs Kong got out ahead of the curve, huh?

Movies: At the Theater

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I've been saying this since KotM failed. 2014 Godzilla killed most of the general public's interest in the series to the point where course correcting and actually making the films about the giant monster battles still couldn't save it, despite being one of the best Godzilla films ever made. On top of that, Kong didn't come close to Godzilla 2014's box office in the US, bringing in $32m less domestically than the previous installment in the MonsterVerse did.

Godzilla vs Kong, as much as I'm hyped to see it, never stood a chance at being a mainstream hit.

I've been saying this since KotM failed. 2014 Godzilla killed most of the general public's interest in the series to the point where course correcting and actually making the films about the giant monster battles still couldn't save it, despite being one of the best Godzilla films ever made. On top of that, Kong didn't come close to Godzilla 2014's box office in the US, bringing in $32m less domestically than the previous installment in the MonsterVerse did.

Godzilla vs Kong, as much as I'm hyped to see it, never stood a chance at being a mainstream hit.

This is all a big exaggeration.

Sure, Kong grossed less than Godzilla domestically, but it grossed a good bit more internationally, was reviewed about the same, and pleased fans a lot more. King of the Monsters failed to meet expectations for a multitude of factors. First of all, yeah, some people were off out by the pace of the first film. Secondly, the novelty of the whole “American made Godzilla film” had worn off. Folks got their fill with the fir at one and weren’t necessarily into seeing it become a franchise. Third, the reviews were generally pretty negative, which definitely turned away some. And finally, there was quite a bit of competition last summer. Avengers Endgame undoubtedly owned the year, and in its wake Godzilla was facing off against Detective Pikachu, Secret Life of Pets 2, Men in Black International, Dark Phoenix, and most significantly, Aladdin. There wasn’t enough of an audience to go around with so much overlap in the appeals, and Godzilla had the aforementioned factors working against it.

That said KotM did appeal more to hardcore Godzilla fans, so hopefully it won back some support there. Also, the concept of a blockbuster “Godzilla vs King Kong” movie might have enough novelty appeal to draw regular audiences back in. GvK wasn’t in too bad shape... until this happened. Now the big summer movies will push back to the Fall, and we just saw what happens when these movies go up against stiff competition....

That's really the most important factor here. The US film industry mostly gives a s*** about what US audiences want. Its why we don't see major "foreign" films (films in a language other than English and that require cultural insights American audiences wouldn't have) coming out of Hollywood. If American audiences aren't going to show up, studios aren't going to continue to put big budgets into the films.

was reviewed about the same, and pleased fans a lot more.

And yet still failed to get the general American public to go see it in theaters. Also, reviewing about the same as the previous monster movie that disappointed a lot of people probably didn't help get people in those seats who weren't inherently fans of Kaiju films before. We also have the people who prefer Kong movies to be more akin to the original and Peter Jackson's King Kong than what we were being sold.

Secondly, the novelty of the whole “American made Godzilla film” had worn off. Folks got their fill with the fir at one and weren’t necessarily into seeing it become a franchise.

I wouldn't say the novelty of an American made Godzilla wore off so much as interest from the general public in Kaiju movies in general. Pacific Rim's followup also failed miserably to bring back fans despite having a lead that gathered a lot of fans and recognizably from Star Wars. If anything has become abundantly clear over the last decade or so, it's that many Americans aren't entertained by the fantasy of something destroying a major metropolitan area anymore. Hell, some find it outright distasteful to continue making movies about it.

On top of the backlash the other disaster movies have gotten in the last 20 years, there was one guy I saw one guy lose his s*** about making end of the world jokes on a space forum the other day because he thinks the destruction and death inherent in an asteroid hitting Earth is nothing we, in 2020, should be considered appropriate for jokes or entertainment (everyone else was joking about the movie Armageddon after it was announced that a potentially life ending asteroid heading this way was confirmed to be on a safe trajectory).

The reviews weren't any more negative than saying "the human characters... again are kinda boring except Ken Watanabe who dies... like Bryan Cranston in the first), but everything else looked and sounded fantastic. 3-4/5" We can't however, dismiss the ill will the first film breed after it sold us this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIu85WQTPRc , then killed off the guy we came to see because of Malcom and Breaking Bad and cut away at the last second every time Godzilla showed up until the very end, instead focusing entirely on the new MUTOs things no one cared about or liked.

And finally, there was quite a bit of competition last summer. Avengers Endgame undoubtedly owned the year, and in its wake Godzilla was facing off against Detective Pikachu, Secret Life of Pets 2, Men in Black International, Dark Phoenix, and most significantly, Aladdin. There wasn’t enough of an audience to go around with so much overlap in the appeals, and Godzilla had the aforementioned factors working against it.

Of those, Endgame, Aladdin, and Pikachu were really set or expected to do well in similar demographics as Godzilla, the niches there are just too extreme to think Secret Life of Pets 2 or Aladdin was why people didn't see Godzilla 2. Also, Dark Phoenix was more than projected to bomb as it was not only the follow-up to the second worst in the series, but it was confirmed long before release that it was going to be the final Fox X-Men film (a franchise without the best reputation or faith among fans or audiences since X2 in '03, especially since JLaw was actively sabotaging them by not really giving a s*** since First Class and Fox still insisted on focusing on her character) being cancelled and transitioned into the much more competent, Marvel's care.

That said KotM did appeal more to hardcore Godzilla fans, so hopefully it won back some support there.

It did, but we were going to show up to this and Kong vs Godzilla regardless with how damn gorgeous these movies one looked and sounded from the start.